Mothers go the extra mile.

Making the sacrifices. Shouldering the worry. Lifting the weak. Celebrating the successes. Providing the encouragement. Bringing the comfort.

Going the extra mile.
Moms – it’s what they do! 

Support of our spring #WithinReach campaign brings clean water within reach for mothers who literally go the extra mile (or two or three or four or more) for their families – collecting water by the bucket to bring back home to fill up the cups, to boil the beans, to wash the clothes, to quench the thirsts, to fill the tummies.

Bernita welcomes us inside her home. She offers a glass of water. In Bernita’s home –  in all the homes in Siminka – water comes not from a tap. There is no water system here. A natural spring serves as the community’s sole water source. Several times a day, Bernita makes the trek to fill her buckets – the little footsteps of her tiny shadow following closely behind.

If not water, would we like some tea? Bernita is more than willing, eager really, to share the water she has worked for. Below a rainbow of plastic cups that hang from nine-penny nails, and opposite the wood-burning clay stove, a row of water buckets occupy a position of prominence in Bernita’s small kitchen.

A child races in breathless, pulls a mug from the wall and pries opens a pail – the blue one with the green lid. We learn that Bernita’s home has an open-door policy. Hers is the nearest to the school and since there is no water at the school, exuberant students run in and out of Bernita’s home, scooping up water by the plastic cup-ful, gulping it down, and running back outside to play. And so, Bernita puts on the miles. Keeping her buckets filled with water. For her family. And for the students.

If only it were clean. Or convenient. Or both. 

Bernita is one of those mothers whose care-taking goes above and beyond. Who goes the extra mile. You probably know mothers like this. Perhaps you even have a mother like this. Perhaps you are one yourself!

This Mother’s Day, show your mom how much you appreciate her going the extra mile by making mothering a little easier for resourceful mothers in resource-scarce environments. Sure, you could buy her flowers, but empowering another mom just might say so much more.

Your support between now and May 19 helps bring water #WITHIINREACH for mothers currently going the extra mile (or two or three or four or more) for their families.